Published on 12, July, 2020
I'm 31, male and was diagnosed with autism last year. Though I find Asperger's fits me better, but anyway... I've thought for a while that seeing a psychiatrist would help me with my depression, feelings of self worth and suicide. I even saw a haematologist last week about a blood clotting disorder I have who strongly advised I see a psychiatrist. However, I have a classmate on my college course who has autism and who's off ill due to her depression and anxiety etc. When I suggested to them about seeing a councillor or therapist, she said that they wouldn't work because she has autism. Is this the case for autistic people? Does counselling/therapy not work for people on the spectrum...? It would make sense considering our brains are hardwired differently, therefore making it unlikely that changing our mindset would be effective, or is this just someone who's been misguided...? I imagine seeing a psychiatrist would help in the sense of having someone to talk to and unload my problems onto, but that's probably as far as it'll go.
Thanks
I'm very flattered to see that the previous poster has pointed you at my old post about therapy experiences.
The only thing that I would add to that, is that there's no harm in giving it a go. The stuff that I wrote there may give you some idea for how to describe your autistic traits to the therapist, and how you might guide them if you think that what they're doing isn't working very well. At the end of the day, even for non-autistic people, how effective therapy is depends a lot on the particular relationship that you and the therapist have - some combinations just don't work, and others might even if the therapist doesn't have autism training but is sufficiently adaptable and will listen to your suggestions.